Turbine blade with near wall microcircuit edge cooling

Abstract

Micro-circuit cooling channels that provide thin wall leading edge and trailing edge cooling for a turbine blade. The blade includes an outer housing wall defining an enclosure and a plurality of ribs extending at least a portion of the length of the blade within the enclosure and defining a serpentine flow channel that allows a cooling airflow to flow from a proximal end to a distal end of the enclosure. The micro-circuit cooling channels are positioned at the leading edge of the airfoil and the trailing edge of the airfoil and include a plurality of micro-pins extending across the micro-circuit cooling channel.

1 . A blade for a gas turbine engine, said blade comprising:
 an airfoil including an outer housing wall defining an enclosure, a leading edge and a trailing edge;   a plurality of ribs extending at least a portion of the length of the airfoil within the enclosure and defining a serpentine flow channel that allows a cooling airflow to flow from a proximal end to a distal end of the airfoil; and   a leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at the leading edge of the airfoil and including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the micro-circuit cooling channel, wherein the leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel is positioned within a wall of the enclosure to be within 0.005-0.008 inches of an outer surface of the leading edge of the airfoil.   
     
     
         2 . The blade according to  claim 1  wherein the plurality of micro-pins are configured in an array so that micro-pins in one row of the array are staggered relative to micro-pins in an adjacent row in the array. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The blade according to  claim 1  further comprising a pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at a pressure side and trailing edge of the airfoil and extending at least a portion of a length of the airfoil, said pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the channel. 
     
     
         5 . The blade according to  claim 4  wherein the plurality of micro-pins in the pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel are configured in an array so that micro-pins in one row of the array are staggered relative to micro-pins in an adjacent row in the array. 
     
     
         6 . The blade according to  claim 4  wherein the pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel is positioned within a wall of the enclosure to be within 0.005-0.008 inches of an outer surface of the airfoil. 
     
     
         7 . The blade according to  claim 4  wherein the pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel is in fluid communication with a series of orifices in the trailing edge of the airfoil. 
     
     
         8 . The blade according to  claim 1  further comprising a suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at a suction side and trailing edge of the airfoil and extending at least a portion of a length of the airfoil, said suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the channel. 
     
     
         9 . The blade according to  claim 8  wherein the plurality of micro-pins in the suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel are configured in an array so that micro-pins in one row of the array are staggered relative to micro-pins in an adjacent row in the array. 
     
     
         10 . The blade according to  claim 8  wherein the suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel is positioned within a wall of the enclosure to be within 0.005-0.008 inches of an outer surface of the airfoil. 
     
     
         11 . The blade according to  claim 8  wherein the suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel is in fluid communication with a series of orifices in the trailing edge of the airfoil. 
     
     
         12 . The blade according to  claim 1  further comprising a thermal barrier provided on the outer wall of the enclosure. 
     
     
         13 . The blade according to  claim 1  wherein the blade is for a row one stage in the gas turbine engine. 
     
     
         14 . The blade according to  claim 1  wherein the leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel is formed by a print parts manufacturing process. 
     
     
         15 . A blade for a gas turbine engine, said blade comprising:
 an airfoil including an outer housing wall defining an enclosure, a leading edge and a trailing edge;   a plurality of ribs extending at least a portion of the length of the airfoil within the enclosure and defining a serpentine flow channel that allows a cooling airflow to flow from a proximal end to a distal end of the airfoil;   a leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at the leading edge of the airfoil and including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the micro-circuit cooling channel, wherein a forward leg of the serpentine flow channel and the leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel provide lead edge cooling for the airfoil;   a pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at a pressure side and trailing edge of the airfoil and extending at least a portion of a length of the airfoil, said pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the channel; and   a suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at a suction side and trailing edge of the airfoil and extending at least a portion of a length of the airfoil, said suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the channel, wherein a rearward leg of the serpentine flow channel splits into the pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel and the suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel, wherein the leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel, the pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel and the suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel are all positioned within a wall of the enclosure to be within 0.005-0.008 inches of an outer surface of the airfoil.   
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . The blade according to  claim 15  wherein the plurality of micro-pins in the leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel, the pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel and the suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel are configured in an array so that micro-pins in one row of the array are staggered relative to micro-pins in an adjacent row in the array. 
     
     
         18 . The blade according to  claim 15  wherein the pressure side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel and the suction side trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel are in fluid communication with a series of orifices in the trailing edge of the airfoil in a staggered manner. 
     
     
         19 . A gas turbine engine comprising:
 an outer housing;   a compressor section being operable to produce a compressed airflow;   a combustion section in fluid communication with the compressor section that receives a combustion portion of the compressed airflow, said combustion section mixing the combustion portion of the compressed airflow with a fuel and combusting the mixture to produce a hot working gas; and   a turbine section in fluid communication with the combustion section, said turbine section receiving the hot working gas, said turbine section including a plurality of rows of vanes and a plurality of rows of blades, wherein at least some of the blades include an outer housing wall defining an enclosure, a plurality of ribs extending at least a portion of a length of the blade within the enclosure and defining at least one flow channel that allows a cooling airflow to flow from a proximal end to a distal end of the enclosure, a leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at the leading edge of the airfoil and including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel, and a trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel positioned at a trailing edge of the airfoil and including a plurality of micro-pins extending across the trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel, wherein the leading edge micro-circuit cooling channel and the trailing edge micro-circuit cooling channel are positioned within a wall of the enclosure to be within 0.005-0.008 inches of an outer surface of the airfoil.   
     
     
         20 . (canceled)